Prozvonit: There’s a Name For It

We love language, and this series features words from various languages around the world that capture universal, but complicated, human emotions or situations. It’s fun and (gasp!) educational, too!

We welcome your contributions!

Today’s lesson, useful worldwide:

Prozvonit— In both the Czech and Slovak languages, this word means to call a mobile phone only to have it ring once so that the other person would call back, allowing the caller not to spend money on minutes. This concept has names in other languages as well:

Toque – Spanish
Cimanje – Croatian
Wangiri – Japanese
Toque – Brazilian Portuguese
Squillo – Italian
Prank – Australian English, some parts of England
Drop-call – Northern Ireland, some parts of England
Cimnuti – Serbian
Tizntuk – Hebrew
Scotch – South African English
Trznuti – Bosnian
Flash – some parts of Africa
Anklingeln – German

Source: Beyond Words, the ALTA Blog